We use Benadryl as an antihistamine in allergic reactions and anaphalaxis. We can give it IV, IM, and since we just got the pediatric syrup, we can give it PO.

An ED doctor told me once, Epi stops the reaction and Benadryl cleans it up. So while Benadryl is a great drug for allergic reactions, it is not the ultimate life-saver epi is. Also, I have found that quite a number of the allergic reactions I do, the patient has already gotten Benadryl either from a family member or a medical person like a doctor or school nurse. Still I would hate to not have Benadryl in my kit. Like Zofran and Morphine, it is a great comfort drug, making the patient feel so much better.

***

We also use Benadryl for dystonic reactions. Dystonic reactions are something to see. The person’s neck and face and arms get all contorted and jerked up — its a reaction to certain drugs.

A guy escapes from a mental health floor of a local hospital, hitchhikes to his friend’s house, then sits on the porch waiting for the friend to get home. Suddenly, he starts to feel his neck tighten up, and his face and arms. He can’t move them. Panicking, he staggers out into the road, lurching in and out of traffic, trying to get someone to help him. He thinks he is dying.

Finally someone calls 911 and reports a crazy man wandering in and out of traffic who appears sick or deranged.

When we get there he is very scared and anxious. I ask him what meds he is on, and he says he has been on Haldol for the last four days.

That’s the answer right there. Haldol can cause dystonic reactions, which produce symptoms just like the man is having.

I give him 50 mg of Benedryl IV and within minutes he can move his neck and face and arms.

“I thought I was dying,” he says. “I can’t believe no one stopped to help me. Aren’t people supposed to help others in distress.”

“They probably thought you were an escaped mental patient,” I say.

“I thought I was going to die,” he says.

**

Another indication we used to use Benadryl for (before we carried Haldol), was adding it to Ativan to calm violent psychs. It didn’t work as well as Haldol.

Cat CampYou gave her 20 Milligrams?!!I never even knew EMS could give a "transporting patient" any pain meds at all. Guess you can tell Ive Never (Thank God) had to be transorted in a rescue before. That is until recently, Jan 8, 2018. I slipped and dislocated my shoulder!!! The Pain was unbearable!! I pray I never experience that pain…
2018-02-10 09:08:03

Barbara WrightAngry Snowman: Naloxone RefusalsBIG CITY MEDIC, amazing how you tear down the attempts of someone trying to save a life at the time or the future. I would have fought for the user to go to the hospital. Big City Medic would lead me to believe you are becoming big city hardened
2018-02-06 19:45:34

NateNaloxone in Cardiac Arrest"What drug do you give?" is a trick question. In cardiac arrest of any cause, the one proven benefit to survival is CPR. Good CPR is a rarity. Most is middling. Second, in VF/VT arrest, the only thing that changes is defibrillation, after good CPR. The rest of ACLS has a paucity of data. It's…
2018-02-05 04:35:24

JordanMother and SonDrug overdoses are normally the ones you get back. So always especially difficult when you don’t. Only a recently qualified Paramedic and haven’t had to deliver bad news as of yet. Dreading the day I do.
2018-01-25 13:45:09